‘Stonewalling’ on job loss talks

Car components company, International Automotive Components (IAC), is refusing to discuss 45 potential job losses with Unite.

Despite having 35 per cent of the workforce as members the company in Scunthorpe is hiding behind a strict interpretation of employment law, which requires 51 per cent membership to be involved in consultations.

But Unite has 135 members at the plant and believes involvement from the very start of discussions could prevent unnecessary compulsory redundancies.

“This is just pedantic nit-picking when you are dealing with people’s lives and futures – and we call on the management to start discussions with Unite as a matter of urgency with a view to avoiding compulsory redundancies,” said Unite regional officer Richard Bedford.

The company is one of Scunthorpe’s largest employers and Unite believes that refusing to discuss potential job losses announced at the end of August shows disrespect to the workforce.

There are also fears of a hidden agenda and the company hiring agency staff.

“Our fear is that the agency staff will be kept on on inferior terms and conditions rather than the permanent staff, who will be forced out,” Bedford noted.

Hiring agency staff on inferior terms and conditions and pay creates a two-tier workforce. Research shows that not only do they have lower take home pay but that they miss out on statutory sick pay, too.

A report from the TUC, entitled The Decent Jobs Deficit: The Human Cost of Zero-Hours Working and Casual Labour, showed that 30 per cent of zero-hours workers earn less than £111 a week – the qualifying threshold for statutory sick pay.

“It goes without saying that Unite will have involvement at some stage,” Bedford went on to say.

“But it would be more advantageous for all concerned to have a proactive approach from the outset rather than having to unpick the mess at the end,” he added.

The IAC is a leading global supplier in the automotive sector of injection moulded interior car parts and supplies to car giants, such as Jaguar Land Rover, Renault, Rolls Royce and Toyota.

Bedford warned that if “stonewalling continues” and Unite is not invited for consultations, the union will consult its members on what action they wish to take to resolved the situation, one that could include, he stressed, a ballot for industrial action.